How do you say “lottery winner” in western Canada? The answer is: David Serkin, the name of the cancer survivor from Alberta who won three separate lottery jackpots between August and May to accumulate about $2.5m in prize money.
According to officials, those lucky tickets marked the second, third and fourth times Serkin had won a lottery in his life, a feat that he had vanishingly small chances of pulling off and gained notice on corners of the internet dedicated to charming news stories.
“I know the odds are astronomical, [and] I don’t think it’ll happen again,” Serkin said in a press bulletin issued recently by the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC). “But I still like buying tickets.”
Serkin won draws of $500,000 on 20 August, $1m on 16 November and $1m on 3 May, the last of those coming from a ticket that he bought at a gasoline station in his home town of Lethbridge. To give an idea of the odds he faced, he had a 1 in about 33.3m chance of winning the first of those jackpots, the WCLC’s bulletin said.
The media outlet NOW Toronto added that Serkin had won another $250,000 lottery jackpot more than a decade before his newer streak of good fortune.
At least part of his lottery success seems to involve consistently playing the odds. He told officials he has been playing the lottery since 1982 – but he maintained that is because he simply enjoys the ritual of buying his tickets and then checking them.
“You check your ticket and if you win – you’re happy,” Serkin said. “If you don’t, you can always try again.
“I’m a cancer survivor and I’m retired, so I am just grateful for all of it.”
Serkin said he bought his latest triumphant ticket on a whim while buying gasoline, figuring, “What do I have to lose?”
He said his friends’ reacted by saying “not again?!” when he took them out for coffee and informed them he had hit the jackpot once more.
As Serkin put it, his wife was equally incredulous – and, if history was any indication, a memorable vacation was in store for her.
“I took my wife to Hawaii with the last win, and we had a great time,” Serkin said to officials. “Now, we’re going to Newfoundland.”
